I N E C A B U V O L R Y

With wine of grapes, the cups of jade would glow at night,

Drinking to pipa songs, we are summoned to fight,

Don’t laugh if we lay drunken on the battleground,

How many warriors ever came back safe and sound?

Whether this thirsty soldier ever made it back from battle, the Tang dynasty (618 – 907) poet Wang Han didn’t say. But even if his life was cut short, his reverie about drinking wine in jade cups has lasted hundreds of years.

Though traditionally less popular than baijiu, the ubiquitous sorghum “white spirit,” grape wine or (p%taoji^) still has a long history in China. The earliest mention of it can be traced back to the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220

CE). Historian Sima Qian wrote in the Records of the Grand Historian that when the envoy Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions (now Xinjiang and parts of Central Asia), he witnessed local wine-making methods and brought these techniques home.

Nowadays, wine has become associated with high-end banquets and connoisseurs more concerned with taste and quality than intoxication. Whereas “how much can you drink?” is the principal—if not only—concern when it comes to baijiu, wine gives much larger scope for discussion: famous brands, producing regions, grape varieties, relevant etiquette, and even its value in the market. As a result, it’s often difficult to join a conversation about wine if one doesn’t have the expertise.

As wine appreciation skills can take months to develop, the simplest shortterm solution is usually “fake it ’til you make it.” If you’re given a wine list in a restaurant, the rule of thumb is that red wine goes best with dark meats and spicy dishes, while white wine easily pairs with similar-colored meat.

We’re having seafood today, so how about pairing it with some white wine?

J~nti`n w6men ch~ h2ixi`n, p-i di2nr b1ip%taoji^

z0nmey3ng?

These dishes are spicy, and go better with reds than with whites.

Zh-xi8 c3i w-id3o x~nl3, p-i h5ngji^ b@ p-i

b1ip%taoji^ h9sh#.

Older reds typically need a few minutes to oxygenate before serving. To avoid sediment, some of the best vintage wines are best decanted before drinking, a process called (x@ng) in Chinese—literally, “woken up”:

Does this wine need breathing? Zh- ji^ x$y3o x@ng ma?

When tasting wine, observing the color, aroma, and appearance are crucial parts of the ritual. Color can best be observed in the wine’s “legs,” known in Chinese as “挂杯 (gu3b8i, clinging to the cup)” or “酒泪 (ji^l-i, wine tears).” This is a tasting term for the pattern and spectrum of color formed when the wine is swirled, then tilted in the glass.

It’s a common myth that wine with more legs tends to be of higher quality. Experts say it’s not true, but it doesn’t matter—most people like to check out the legs just because it looks professional, so feel free to angle your glass and say:

This wine shows a deep ruby-red color. Zh- ku2n ji^ ch9ng sh8nb2osh!h5ngs-.

This wine doesn’t have many legs. Zh- ji^ b& z0nme gu3b8i a.

Discussing a wine’s aroma, or “nose,” can be similarly complex. Try talking about its density: It can be “轻淡 (q~ngd3n, light)” or “

(n5ngy&, pronounced).” Wine buffs draw on terms from all other kinds of food (nutty, fruity, smoky, peppery). Vintage wine stored in barrels may have some oak aroma, but if you don’t know what you’re talking about, better to keep things simple or just use vague, safe terms:

The wine has a pronounced aroma with blackcurrant.

Zh- ji^ d3izhe n5ngy& de h8iji`l%n gu6xi`ng.

The nose is complex and pleasant, with mature fruit aromas.

Xi`ngq# f&z1, l#ng r9n y%yu-, d3iy6u ch9ngsh% de

gu6xi`ng.

This wine is fruity, and it has elegant oak aromas.

Zh- ku2n ji^ ji^xi`ng f8ngy&, s3nf` zhe y4uy2 de

xi3ngm&xi`ng.

But you don’t necessarily have to praise the wine if you don’t like it. If it doesn’t smell right, for example, the wine might have been spoiled (“corked”) by a fungus in the cork stopper, which can only be detected after the wine is bottled, aged, and opened (many modern and cheaper wines no longer use corks, partly for this reason).

This wine is faulty; I think it’s corked. Zh- ji^ y6u y#w-i, w6 xi2ng t` sh# r2nshang le

m&s`iw-ir.